"Dave Woodard put me on to Dil Bourbonridge and the amazing story of his song, 'The First Christmas Snow.' Based on a story written by his grandfather during WWII a teenage Dil fashioned it into a DIY holiday single in 1965. Despite being 56 years old, the song sounds like some new indie jangle-band release."

—Poprock Record
poprockrecord.com/2021/12/20/happy-crimble-a-poprock-holiday-pageant/

"'That record will break your heart just like the poem did. Nothing but a heartache etched in that vinyl.' If you want to know more about the song(s), this quote and who the fantastic mr Bourbonridge is, you have to read the full story."

— Christmas a Go Go!
christmasagogo.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-christmas-dick.html


The Tale of Dill Bourbonridge

One Christmas in Great Britain, during the blitzkrieg of the second world war, Dale Bourbonridge knew he and his wife could not afford gifts. Wishing to make the holiday special for his family, Dale wrote a story—in verse—to read to his three children on Christmas Eve. He gathered them around a small stove which furnished light and warmth, and read his humble offering to Dale, Jr, Sarah, and Richard.

The story was entitled The First Christmas Snow and was about an unnamed Father Christmas who, stuck in the mud on a rainy December 24, is rescued when the rain suddenly turns to snow. Father Christmas, in a sleigh pulled by reindeer, follows the snowfall all the way to Bethlehem and the stable where he encounters the newborn, Jesus. Somehow, he is able to ascertain the importance of the event and proclaims that he will travel the earth every December 24 and visit the children of the world to commemorate the evening.

The First Christmas Snow

Stuck in the mud on a rainy winter’s eve
The old man was feeling low
Nowhere to shelter his reindeer team
The cold wind began to blow

With his red cap pulled down tight
He fastened his red coat
Then he saw the blessed sight
As the rain turned to snow

The snow turned the floor a soft white
The moon reflected a glow
The team followed where the snowfall led
Fueling a new-found hope

The old man travelled many miles that night
Crossing O’er the globe
Soon he saw a star
Rest above a lowly stable below

The old man made his way inside
And found a baby in the hay
As the baby tugged on his bearded face
Mary heard him say

“I will spread the good news to every child
Of what has happened today,
Surely there’ll be peace on earth
Brought by this babe”

The deer who trod the path of snow
All gathered round to spy
The babe touched each one on the nose
And made each reindeer fly

So, the first miracle we know
Jesus turned the rain to Christmas snow

What the humble story lacked in historical (and meteorological) accuracy, Dale made up for in heart and an earnest reading. The guileless Bourbonridge children were enthralled with the tale. Every Christmas Eve from then on, they begged the elder Bourbanridge to read the verse anew.

One year, the teen-aged middle child, Sarah, full of artistic aspirations and talent, illustrated the story. Her illustration featured the nativity with a Father Christmas kneeling beside the manger. Father Christmas looks a little different as he has a long beard, a bright red suit and stocking hat. The suit had furry white cuffs around the trouser legs and coat sleeves. It looked notably like the plump elder Bourbonridge. When baby Jesus touched each reindeer on the nose, the nose would shine bright red.

Richard, being the youngest child, kept the tradition going the longest. When Richard turned twenty and his father turned 60, Richard sent the verse and his sister’s illustration to the local weekly. To everyone’s delight (except for Dale) the paper published it along with a feel-good story of how the verse came to be composed and illustrated. Other local papers picked up the story, and it was reprinted up and down the UK. For several years it would be reprinted at Christmas time.

After popular Santa Claus ads from Macy’s in America began to appear—and eventually the Rudolph song— Dale would always say they stole the idea for what would become known as the modern Santa Claus from his poem and Sarah’s illustrations. He could not pass by a Santa advertisement from any local merchant without saying “they stole my story.” Years after Dale had passed away, Sarah contended Dale’s outrage was just playful faux offense, but young Richard took it seriously and contended it was serious. As a result, he refused to participate in the Santa traditions, and when he could, Christmas altogether.

Richard would have three children of his own, the oldest Michael, a middle daughter Elizabeth Marie, and a younger son, Dill. None of Richard’s children shared their father’s cynicism about Christmas. Even his Scrooge routine year after year became part of the festive ethos of the Bourbonridge house. The children nicknamed their father Christmas DIckie, much to his chagrin.

As young Dill grew, he took a shine to music and learned to play guitar. One Christmas, Dill adapted The First Christmas Snow into a song. He pinched as many shillings as he could and went to a real recording studio to record it. The studio musicians took a liking to him. After the recording was complete, they asked if he had any other songs. The only song Dill could think of on the spot was a little ditty he had written years ago poking fun at his father called The Christmas Dick, shortening Dickie since it was easier to rhyme. The musicians got a kick out of the song and in an hour or so, had managed to record a version of The Christmas Dick saying “you will need a B-side for your record anyway.”

That Christmas, the Christmas of 1965, Dill presented the family and extended family a copy of his custom 45 record of The First Christmas Snow b/w The Christmas Dick. The family members were touched and delighted to have this memento updating a family tradition. Even Richard, the Christmas Dickie himself, got a kick out of being memorialized in a song.

The next Christmas, Dill’s sister, Elizabeth Marie, in her final year of university and dating a pirate radio station DJ, convinced her boyfriend to play First Christmas Snow on the radio. Brits are suckers for a Christmas song, and Dill’s song began to garner requests. A university classmate pitched the song to her BBC employed father and The First Christmas Snow begins popping up on late night playlists. Enthusiasm for the song continued to grow.

When the holidays rolled around the next year, Dill was contacted by some London record merchants about stocking the single. They anticipated The First Christmas Snow could grow in popularity with some in-store promotion. Dill, a budding musician, promptly manufactured several hundred copies of The First Christmas Snow with The Christmas Dick as the b-side. He shipped them off the London record stores.

Much to Dill’s dismay, instead of payments for the records arriving in his mailbox, boxes of 45s began being returned with letters decrying such an obscene song on the b-side. Indeed, the incident was reported back to the BBC who promptly added Dill Bourbonridge’s song to the banned list.

“It honestly never occurred to me,” Dill Bourbonridge shared years later. “I know d*** is a slang term for wanker in the states, but I just never made that connection.”

And what does Christmas Dickie think about it all? “That record will break your heart just like the poem did. Nothing but a heartache etched in that vinyl.”

Though this would be Dill’s closest brush with fame as a music recording artist, he has gone on to enjoy a career in music. In the late 60s Dill moved to the United States living in Los Angeles, Nashville and New York before finally settling in Nashville, TN by the early 90s.